SEVENTEEN 2 страница

He knelt next to me. “Exchanging hallos with Belinda in hell by now, I should think. ”

Good. One might have gotten away, but three didn’t, and the most dangerous of those three was starting to shrivel in the late afternoon sun.

“Zachary? ”

Bones shook his head. I took in a deep breath, wishing I could stab Belinda again and somehow make her feel it.

The squealing of tires announced the guys’ arrival as, moments later, Juan and Tate jumped out of the car that skidded to a stop by us.

I stood up, brushing some of the grass and dirt off me.

“As you can see, guys, Belinda has been fired. ”

FOUR

THE OTHER VAMPIRE GOT AWAY. DAVE BLAMED himself for not being the one to strap him in the capsule, but he’d been so distracted after Belinda attacked Zachary, which was what she’d intended, of course. Zachary bled to death before Bones finished with the last vampire, so he hadn’t gotten to him in time to heal him. Zachary had had the team’s version of a living will, too. One that stated he didn’t want to be brought back as anything inhuman if he were killed on a job. So, all of us somber, we honored his wishes and buried him.

Ethan turned out to be an orphan, which explained why his parents hadn’t strongly opposed the part he’d played as my son. I made Don promise never to use him or any other child again for something so dangerous, and to find him a good foster home. If Don could run a secret branch of the government to fight the undead, finding a foster home for an orphan shouldn’t be too hard.

At last, V‑ day for Tate arrived. Everyone was at the compound. We were only short one person, and that’s because her flight had been delayed due to mechanical difficulties. Annette, the first vampire Bones ever created, was coming in to help with Tate.

That had been my idea. Bones had barely spoken to Annette since her attempt to scare me off with sordid details of his past, but I knew their estrangement bothered him. So I suggested Annette could trade off shifts in the cell Tate would be locked in after his change. It could take up to a week before Tate would be able to control his hunger without ripping open the first vein he saw, so no one with a pulse could help Tate those first several days. Dave had already volunteered, but with a third person, it would free up some of Bones’s time. And give Annette a chance to mend fences. Wasn’t I just the little peacemaker?

Now, however, I was nervous. In half an hour, Bones would kill Tate, only to bring him back again. The time from bite to rebirth could last one hour, or several. We’d scheduled this for eight p. m., right after sundown, when Bones would be at his strongest. It took a lot out of a vampire to change someone over, or so I’d been told. This was my first experience with it.

True to form, Don had videos set up. He even had electrodes stuck to Tate’s chest and head to monitor the exact moment of death as well as brainwave activity. Bones shook his head upon seeing all the high‑ tech setup, acidly inquiring if it was being broadcast over the Internet as well. Don didn’t care. He intended to glean all available information he could for study. In that, he was shameless.

Tate was in a room reinforced with a series of titanium locks. Hell, they even had a macabre‑ looking operating table outfitted with clamps made of the same metal. Bones told Don all these precautions were overkill, pun intended, but Don was worried about Tate busting out and running amok. Tate was strapped to that table now, wearing only a pair of shorts to allow for easier electrode access. I slipped in to see him as a human one last time.

Numerous bags of blood sat in a cooler nearby for Tate’s first few meals. My gaze met his indigo one as I stood next to the inclined slab, maneuvering it until he was upright.

“God, Tate. ” My voice wavered. “Are you sure about this? ”

He attempted a smile, but it lacked its usual depth. “Don’t look so spooked, Cat. You’d think you were the one about to die, not me. ”

I laid my hand on his cheek. His skin felt as warm as mine. This was the last time it would be that way. Tate sighed and inclined his head closer.

“It’s been a strange ride, hasn’t it? ” he murmured. “I remember when I didn’t believe in vampires. Now I’m about to join their ranks, led by a son of a bitch I despise. Ironic, huh? ”

“You don’t have to do this, Tate. You can change your mind and we’ll call the whole thing off. ”

He took another deep breath. “As a vampire, I’ll be stronger, faster, and harder to kill. The team needs that…and so do you. ”

“Don’t you dare do this for me, Tate. ” My voice trembled with vehemence. “If this is for me, then get off that table right now. ”

“I’m doing this, ” he repeated, his tone equally vehement. “You can’t talk me out of it, Cat. ”

Bones saved me from a response by coming up behind me. “It’s time, Kitten. ”

I went to the small observatory one level up, where the video from that room fed into. My uncle was already seated, watching the screen. Juan, Cooper, and Dave came into our room. I couldn’t look away as on the screen, Bones walked over to Tate with the slow grace of a true predator. Tate’s breathing and heartbeat began to accelerate.

Bones studied him without emotion. “You won’t gain what you’re hoping for, mate, but you will have to live with this decision the rest of your days. So, one last time, do you want this? ”

Tate took a long breath. “You’ve wanted to kill me for months. Here’s your chance. Just do it. ”

In the next second, Bones’s fangs were sunk deep into Tate’s neck. The machines picked up Tate’s skyrocketing pulse as he gasped, stiffening. Dave gripped my hand and I clenched back, watching as Bones drank the life from my friend with deep, long pulls of his mouth. That pale throat worked over and over as he swallowed. The sounds from the EKG monitor slowed, decreased, and then made only intermittent, brief bleeps when Bones lifted his head.

He licked the spare drops of blood around his mouth before pulling out a blade and making a gouge in his own neck. Then Bones pressed Tate’s lolling head to the wound, keeping the tip of the knife in his neck so it didn’t close.

Tate’s mouth moved, at first feebly lapping at the blood, and then sucking with more vigor. The EEG monitor began to make alarming noises. Bones dropped the knife as Tate, eyes closed, clamped his teeth around his neck and tore at it. Bones held Tate’s head, not flinching as he chomped at him for more. Tate gnashed and sucked as the minutes ticked on, his heartbeat skipping longer and longer in between blips until at last there was…silence.

Bones tore Tate’s mouth free, wrenching it loose and staggering back. The EEG went haywire while the EKG showed a straight flat line on its monitor. A great tremor wracked Tate’s body, rattling the clamps holding him. Then he slumped in his restraints, motionless. Dead, but waiting to rise.

The hours dragged by with painful slowness. Bones sat on the floor of the cell, looking like he was resting, but I knew he wasn’t asleep. Every so often, his gaze would flick over to Tate’s still form. I wondered if he could feel changes in the energy around Tate. Lord knew the EEG could. It hadn’t shut up the whole time. Bones must have wanted to smash it more than once by now, with all the bleeps and squawks it made.

Bones had helped himself to two of the blood bags after Tate‑ died? Passed out? What was the term for the state Tate was in now, anyway? ‑ even though Bones hated bagged plasma. He’d likened the taste to rotten milk, for an analogy I’d understand when I’d once asked him why he didn’t just eat that instead of biting people. But with what he’d drained into Tate, Bones needed a refill, taste preferences notwithstanding.

Juan yawned. It was after midnight, and so far, we’d done nothing but watch Tate lie there. Still, no one seemed to want to tear their eyes from the screen.

“You can all get some sleep, I’ll buzz you when there’s any change, ” I suggested. I was used to being awake late. Being half vampire had its quirks.

Don gave me a tired but firm look. “I think I speak for everyone when I say hell no, I’m staying. ”

There were grunts of agreement. I shrugged, defeated, and turned my attention back to the screen.

The only warning I had was Bones standing up. Then, suddenly, Tate’s supine body was a seething mass of motion. His eyes were open, every muscle strained against the clamps, and a howl so unearthly feral it rocked me back in my seat came from the speakers.

“Jesus Christ, ” Don muttered, his former slump gone.

Tate’s scream grew impossibly louder. Through the blur from the frenzied scissoring of Tate’s head as he fought against his restraints, I saw his mouth was open…and fangs were clearly visible as he continued to howl like he’d just come straight from hell.

Bones had said new vampires woke up with a burning, mindless thirst. That reality was playing out before my eyes. Tate didn’t seem to be aware of where he was, or evenwho he was. There was nothing left of him in the gaze that scoured the small room he was trapped in.

Bones had none of my inner panic at seeing my friend in such a condition. He went over to the cooler, drew out a few blood bags, and walked over to Tate.

I couldn’t hear what he said, because Tate’s screams drowned it out, but I saw Bones’s lips move as he dropped one of the bags right onto Tate’s gaping mouth. Nummy, nummy? my frozen mind supplied. Or, Bottoms up?

It didn’t matter. Tate didn’t drink from the bag‑ he tore at it until his face was covered in red and his snapping jaws made him look more like a great white shark than a man. Bones, unperturbed, plucked the plastic remains from Tate’s face, nimbly avoiding his fingers getting chomped, and then dropped another bag onto Tate’s mouth. It met the same garbage‑ disposal fate as the first one.

I glanced away, disturbed. That made no sense, because I’d known what to expect, but hearing it and seeing it were two different things. To my right, I also noticed Juan looking away from the screen. He rubbed his temple.

“It’s still him. ”

Dave’s voice seemed very soft in the sudden break from Tate’s screams as he slurped. Dave nodded once at the monitor.

“I know it’s hard to believe from what you’re looking at, but Tate’s still in there. This is only temporary. He’ll be himself soon. ”

God, I wanted to believe that. I knew there was no reason I shouldn’t, except that now, Tate looked more frightening than the most homicidal vampire I’d ever come across. I guess I truly hadn’t been prepared to see my friend this way, even though I’d thought I was.

It took five bags before the demented gleam left Tate’s eyes. Of course, most of the first two had spilled around his face and shoulders, not in his mouth, since he’d sawed at them so crazily. Now, covered in blood, he finally looked at Bones and seemed to recognize him.

“It hurts, ” were Tate’s first words.

Tears came to my eyes at the bleak rawness of his voice. There was so much despair leaking out of that short sentence.

Bones nodded. “It gets better, mate. You’ll have to trust me on that. ”

Tate looked down at himself, licking at the blood he could get. Then he stopped‑ and stared straight into the camera.

“Cat. ”

I leaned forward, pressing the button on the monitor that allowed them to hear me.

“I’m here, Tate. We all are. ”

Tate closed his eyes. “Don’t want you to see me like this, ” he mumbled.

Shame over my initial reaction made my voice raspy. “It’s okay, Tate. You’re‑ ”

“I don’t want youseeing me like this! ” he snarled, jerking against his clamps once again.

“Kitten. ” Bones glanced up at the screen. “It’s upsetting him. That’ll make it harder for him to control the blood craze. Best do as he wants. ”

My guilt deepened. Was this a coincidence, or could Tate somehow tell that I’d been repelled by watching him before? What a crappy leader I was, let alone a bad friend.

“I’m going, ” I said, managing to keep my voice steady. “I’ll…I’ll see you when you’re better, Tate. ”

Then I walked out of the room, not looking back as I heard Tate’s screams start up once again.

I was sitting at my desk, staring off into space, when my cell phone rang. A glance at it showed my mother’s number, and I hesitated. I so wasn’t in the mood to deal with her. But it was unusual for her to be up this late, so I answered.

“Hi Mom. ”

“Catherine. ” She paused. I waited, tapping my finger on my desk. Then she spoke words that had me almost falling out of my chair. “I’ve decided to come to your wedding. ”

I actually glanced at my phone again to see if I’d been mistaken and it was someone else who’d called me.

“Are you drunk? ” I got out when I could speak.

She sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t marry that vampire, but I’m tired of him coming between us. ”

Aliens replaced her with a pod person, I found myself thinking. That’s the only explanation.

“So…you’re coming to my wedding? ” I couldn’t help but repeat.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it? ” she replied with some of her usual annoyance.

“Um. Great. ” Hell if I knew what to say. I was floored.

“I don’t suppose you’d want any of my help planning it? ” my mother asked, sounding both defiant and uncertain.

If my jaw hung any lower, it would fall off. “I’d love some, ” I managed.

“Good. Can you make it for dinner later? ”

I was about to say, Sorry, there was no way, when I paused. Tate didn’t even want me watching the video of him dealing with his bloodlust. Bones was leaving this afternoon to pick Annette up from the airport. I could swing by my mom’s when he went to get Annette, and then meet him back here afterward.

“How about a late lunch instead of dinner? Say, around four o’clock? ”

“That’s fine, Catherine. ” She paused again, seeming to want to say something more. I half expected her to yell, April Fool’s! but it was November, so that would be way early. “I’ll see you at four. ”

When Bones came into my office at dawn, since Dave was taking the next twelve‑ hour shift with Tate, I was still dumbfounded. First Tate turning into a vampire, then my mother softening over my marrying one. Today really was a day to remember.

Bones offered to drop me off on his way to the airport, then pick me up on his way back to the compound, but I declined. I didn’t want to be without a car if my mother’s mood turned foul‑ always a possibility‑ or risk ruining our first decent mother‑ daughter chat by Bones showing up with a strange vampire. There were only so many sets of fangs I thought my mother could handle at the same time, and Annette got on my nerves even on the best of days.

Besides, I could just see me explaining who Annette was to my mother. Mom, this is Annette. Back in the seventeen hundreds when Bones was a gigolo, she used to pay him to fuck her, but after more than two hundred years of banging him, now they’re just good friends.

Yeah, I’d introduce Annette to my mother‑ right after I performed a lobotomy on myself.

“I still can’t believe she wants to talk about the wedding, ” I marveled to Bones as I climbed into my car.

He gave me a serious look. “She’ll never abandon her relationship with you. You could marry Satan himself and that still wouldn’t get rid of her. She loves you, Kitten, though she does a right poor job of showing it most days. ” Then he gave me a wicked grin. “Shall I ring your cell in an hour, so you can pretend there’s an emergency if she gets natty with you? ”

“What if thereis an emergency with Tate? ” I wondered. “Maybe I shouldn’t leave. ”

“Your bloke’s fine. Nothing can harm him now short of a silver stake through the heart. Go see your mum. Ring me if you need me to come bite her. ”

There really was nothing for me to do at the compound. Tate would be a few more days at least in lockdown, and we didn’t have any jobs scheduled, for obvious reasons. This was as good a time as any to see if my mom meant what she said about wanting to end our estrangement.

“Keep your cell handy, ” I joked to Bones. Then I pulled away.

My mother lived thirty minutes from the compound. She was still in Richmond, but in a more rural area. Her quaint neighborhood was reminiscent of where we grew up in Ohio, without being too far away from Don if things got hairy. I pulled up to her house, parked, and noticed that her shutters needed a fresh coat of paint. Did they look like that the last time I was here? God, how longhad it been since I’d come to see her?

As soon as I got out of the car, however, I froze. Shock crept up my spine, and it had nothing to do with the realization that I hadn’t been here since Bones came back into my life months ago.

From the feel of the energy leaking off the house, my mother wasn’t alone inside, but whoever was with her didn’t have a heartbeat. I started to slide my hand toward my purse, where I always had some silver knives tucked away, when a cold laugh made me stop.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, little girl, ” a voice I hated said from behind me.

My mother’s front door opened. She was framed in it, with a dark‑ haired vampire who looked vaguely familiar cradling her neck almost lovingly in his hands.

And I didn’t need to turn around to know the vampire at my back was my father.

FIVE

MAX, MY FATHER, STOOD ABOUT THIRTY yards away between some trees. His red hair blew in the breeze and those identical gray eyes bore into mine. But what really held my attention was the rocket launcher Max had balanced on his shoulder. He also had a gun in his other hand. The disparity between the two weapons almost made me laugh out of sheer hysteria.

“Iwas going to blow up your car before you even pulled into the driveway, ” Max said in a genial tone, nodding at the rocket launcher, “but then I saw you were alone. And how could any dad pass up the chance to spend some time with his little girl? ”

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That was what Max had spat at me months ago after he’d been busted for hiring two hitmen to put me out of my misery. I hadn’t thought he would try more brazen attempts to kill me since Bones married me vampire‑ style, but it looked like I was wrong.

“Where’s your sire, Max? ” I asked, my voice even. “Is Ian running late? Is he still that pissed at me for getting away from him months ago? ”

“Ian? ” Max laughed. “Fuck my sire, I don’t need him. I’ve got new benefactors, little girl, and they want you dead as much as I do. ”

I debated going for my knives again. An icy smile stretched across Max’s face, which looked enough like mine for anyone to tell we were father and daughter.

“Think you can get to your weapons before I shoot you? Maybe you can. But not before this rocket plows right through your mother, and wouldn’t that be a shame. ”

My jaw clenched. Max and the other vampire were in the exact opposite direction from each other. Even if I was fast enough to take out one of them, the other would still have time to kill my mom.

“Why don’t we go inside? I think a family chat’s long overdue, ” Max said, gesturing with the gun.

There was no way I could do anything with the two of them this far apart. I started toward the house, but his laugh stopped me. “Drop your purse first, little girl, and kick it over my way. Slowly. ”

A dozen different attack scenarios skipped through my mind, but fear for my mother made me reject all of them. If only it was just Max here. If only I’d strapped some weapons on me before heading over. If only I had another damn watch with a panic button in it, so Bones could realize my mother and I were in deep shit.

I dropped my purse and gave it a sideways kick over to Max. He grunted and came closer, his aim not wavering with either weapon.

“Let’s make you a little more respectful, ” he said, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit me low in the stomach, doubling me over. It took a few seconds for the pain to hit, but when it did, it was merciless.

Behind me, I heard the other vampire giggle. It wasn’t much louder than the sound of the shot. Max’s gun had a silencer.

“Inside, ” he directed me with another wave of the gun. “Or the next round goes in your leg. ”

With my fists covering the rapidly bleeding hole in my gut, I staggered into the house. As soon as Max closed the door behind us, he fired again, striking me in the thigh.

I’d screamed at the second shot, which knocked me off my feet and sent me sprawling onto the floor.

“It was too much fun to resist, ” Max smirked, then waved the gun, this time at my mother. “You make one more sound and she gets the next slug. ”

Max would love to shoot my mother. It hadn’t escaped my notice that she had a dull, glazed look on her face. Max had green‑ eyed her into compliance. The thought of how terrified she must have been to open her door and see my father there almost made my rage match the pain in pure intensity.

But that was short‑ lived. Waves of pain, nausea, and dizziness assailed me. Max might have missed arteries or vital organs, but in my current condition, I wouldn’t be able to fight off him and the other vampire, plus rescue her. It was only because of being half vampire that I was even still conscious at all.

Bones. I’d often teased him about being paranoid over my safety, but it looked like the joke was on me. Sure, if I didn’t show up at the compound later, he would be worried. Probably enough to come straight here, but from Max’s expression, he’d arrive too late.

“You should have killed me when you had the chance, ” Max said, staring down at me. “Bet now you wish you’d done that instead of marrying Bones back at Ian’s that night. ”

Even if this was it for me‑ and I wasn’t ready to concede that by a long shot‑ I couldn’t bring myself to agree.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I hate you, Max? ” I managed to grit out. Maybe I could stall him. Get him pissed enough to want to take his time killing me.

The other vampire laughed. “She has such spirit, ” he said, eyeing me even as he stroked my mother’s hair. “What a waste. ”

Recognition dawned about where I’d seen the black‑ haired vampire before. He was the one who’d gotten away from Chuck E. Cheese’s that day!

“You, ” I said.

He smiled. “Nice to see you again, too. ”

Max set the rocket launcher down, but that didn’t do me nearly as much good now as it would have a few minutes ago.

“Calibos, ” he said, “if my daughter moves, kill her mother. ”

With that grim directive, Max disappeared into the kitchen. I kept applying pressure to the hole in my gut, since it was bleeding worse than my leg. Goddamn you, Max, I thought through the pain. I’ll see you dead even if it’s the last thing I do.

And from the looks of it, it probably would be.

My mother still stared sightlessly ahead. Aside from that, to my relief, she didn’t look hurt. Calibos, as Max called the other vampire, let his hand wander down the front of her shirt to squeeze her breast. A low growl came from me that made him grin.

“Temper, temper, ” he purred, letting his hand creep lower.

Max came out of the kitchen and glared at Calibos. “Not her, ” he said curtly. “If there’s time, you can have Cat, but Justina’s mine. ”

Oh dear God. Renewed determination surged through me. I couldn’t let Max live, even if I ended up killing me and my mother in the process of taking him down. I knew my mother. She’d rather be dead than raped by a vampire, especially Max.

“I think it’s time to wake her up, don’t you? ” my father asked me in that same chipper tone. He handed his gun to Calibos with directions to shoot me if I twitched, then went over to my mother. Max cut his thumb on one of the four knives he’d returned from the kitchen with and held it to her mouth.

“Rise and shine, Justina, ” he said, rubbing the blood on her lips.

My mother licked it, blinked once‑ and then screamed.

Max’s hand clamped over her mouth. I tried to push the pain back enough to concentrate on a plan. Come on, Cat, think! There’s got to be a way out of this.

“Hello, beautiful, ” Max said, putting his face right next to my mother’s. “I’m going to take my hand away, but for every time you scream, I’m going to cut something off our daughter. Understand? ”

My mother’s gaze flicked to me, widened, and then she nodded. Max dropped his hand.

“That’s better. Now, to make sure kitty here doesn’t spoil the fun…”

Max walked over to me, still holding those knives. I braced myself, wanting to grab for those blades like I’d wanted nothing before it. But Calibos had the gun pointed at me and my mother within biting distance. I’d make my stand, but this wasn’t the time.

Max smiled, kneeling to grab my wrist. “You’re going to die, ” he said, low enough that only I could hear him, “but I’ll let your mother live just so she can remember that she watched it happen. But if you fight me, little girl, I’ll rape her and kill her in front of you before I finish you. How much do you want to save her from that? ”

I’d never felt such hatred for anyone as I did for my father. There was a chance that Max would kill us both anyway, but I had three choices. Hope I came up with a brilliant plan and managed to rescue both of us, hope Max took long enough torturing me that Bones showed up in time…or go for those knives and risk watching Max make good on his threat about my mother. I knew he was capable of it. There wasn’t much I thought was beneath him.

“Let her go when it’s over, ” I said very softly, opting for Plan A or B.

Max smiled. “Smart girl. ” His fingers stroked my wrist. “Why did you come here alone? Where’s Bones? ”

Lying always sounded more authentic when it was mixed with the truth. “He’s at the compound. He changed one of my team last night into a vampire, so he’s staying with him until he’s over the blood craze. ”

Max’s smile widened. “Tate. ”

I couldn’t hide my shock. My father laughed. “How do I know about that? Belinda gave Calibos the information. Once I found your mother, all I had to do was compel her to invite you over. I owe Belinda a huge thank‑ you. ”

Belinda. Son of a bitch, I’d underestimated that blue‑ eyed bimbo. Now I knew what she’d been whispering to Calibos as she led him out of Chuck E. Cheese’s. What was the one thing Belinda knew that no one else outside my unit did? The date and time we were changing Tate. Belinda must have figured with me dead, no one would piece together how Max had done this. But she hadn’t figured on dying herself.

Another wave of light‑ headedness swept over me. I must have been bleeding internally, since what was leaking out onto the floor didn’t account for how I felt.

“You’ll have to save the thanks, Max, because she’s dead. ”

He shrugged. “That’s a shame. Nice girl. ”

“Max. ”

Both of us turned. My mother was still standing where she’d been. Slow tears trickled down her face. I’d never seen her cry before.

“It’s me you want, ” she said in a raspy voice. “I raised Catherine, and I taught her to hate every vampire she met. Let her go. This is between you and me. ”

This, not being shot twice, was what brought tears to my eyes. All the times I’d thought she didn’t love me, and here my mother was trying to use herself to barter with the vampire she feared the most.

Max lasered a green glare her way. “Oh, I have unfinished business with you, Justina. Do you know what a pain in the ass it’s been, being the vampire who fathered the half‑ breed? I’ve had strangers beat me on sight! But I get no protection if I just kill you, whereas takingher out garners me new friends. They wanted Bones dead, too, but I’ll take what I can get. ”

I was about to ask who these new friends were, when Max took one those knives and speared it straight through my wrist, hard enough to pin it to the floor. I gave a harsh gasp, but it was my mother who screamed.

“Stop it! ”

Max grinned, keeping the other knives well away from my reach. “Thanks, Justina. Now I get to do a little slicing, courtesy of you. ”

Calibos let out an annoyed sigh I could hear even above my own labored breathing.

“This is boring. Am I going to get to do anything fun today? ”

Max took another knife, giving a meaningful glance at my mother before touching its tip to my skin. “Go on, fight me. Give me a reason to make you watch your mother suffer before she dies, ” he whispered.

I set my teeth and didn’t fight as he drove this blade slowly through my other wrist. It hurt even more than the first one had. My mother let out a moan that sounded like she was in pain, too.

“Please. ” It was barely audible, and she held her hand out to Max. “Please, no more. This is my fault, leave her alone! ”

“What time is your playboy vampire expecting you back? ” Max asked, ignoring her.

It would take Bones twenty minutes to get to the airport from the compound, maybe less with the way he drove. Then another fifteen or so minutes to load up Annette’s ridiculous amount of bags and head back. Would Bones call me once he’d gotten back to the compound? I had my phone set to vibrate, so I wouldn’t be able to hear it if he did, since it was outside in my purse. God, would it take him hours before he even wondered why I wasn’t back yet?

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